Light-off catalyst monitor

Abstract: Monitoring a light-off catalyst (12, 15) in conjunction with an internal combustion engine (10) includes providing exhaust gas oxygen sensors (20, 21, 22, 23) upstream and downstream of the light-off catalyst (12, 15) for monitoring operation of the catalyst. The monitoring is disabled when the mass air flow through the light-off catalyst (12, 15) is so high that the catalyst monitor is saturated and unable to detect the operation of the light-off catalyst.

Description: This invention relates to electronic engine control and diagnostics for an internal combustion engine. Internal combustion engines can have a catalyst in the exhaust path to reduce the occurrence of certain gases coming out of the exhaust path. Further, often it is desirable to determine the operating condition of any such catalysts. In certain low emission vehicles there is a light-off catalyst in the exhaust gas stream which must be monitored for hydrocarbon (HC) efficiency. The light-off catalyst is a relatively small, quickly acting catalyst typically used in combination with a large, slower acting main catalyst. However, since the light-off catalyst if usually a very small volume catalyst, the efficiency will be low at the high space velocities experienced over most of the time of engine operation. As a result, an onboard diagnostic monitor for catalyst efficiency will be saturated and cannot detect when the light-off catalyst has deteriorated. It would be desirable to be able to determine when such a catalyst has deteriorated. In United States Patent 5,233,829 there is described an exhaust system for an exhaust line for an internal combustion engine comprising: an upstream catalytic convertor means, disposed in said exhaust gas; downstream catalytic convertor means, disposed downstream from said upstream catalytic convertor means in said exhaust line, for purifying exhaust gas; a first emission sensor, disposed upstream from said upstream catalytic convertor means in said exhaust line, for detecting an emission level of exhaust gas; a second emission sensor, disposed between said upstream catalytic convertor means and said downstream catalytic convertor means in said exhaust line, for detecting an emission level of exhaust gas; and a third emission sensor, disposed downstream from said downstream catalytic convertor means in said exhaust line, for detecting an emission level of exhaust gas. The exhaust system is provided with means for detecting deterioration of said downstream catalytic convertor means but makes no provision for ascertaining the efficiency of the upstream catalytic convertor means. An onboard diagnostic monitor for catalyst efficiency of a low emission vehicle light-off catalyst can use the following steps. First an exhaust gas oxygen (EGO) sensor is provided upstream (front) and downstream (rear) of the light-off catalyst that is being monitored. Second, for mass air flow regions where the space velocity is so high that the catalyst monitor is saturated (unable to detect a high efficiency catalyst or a catalyst with zero efficiency), the catalyst monitor will be disabled. Third, the catalyst monitor will be active only in the mass air flow regions where the space velocity is low and the catalyst monitor is not saturated. Fourth, the EGO switch ratio (rear/front) determined in the capable mass air flow regions can be used to relate the condition of the light-off catalyst to the overall catalyst HC efficiency. According to the present invention we provide a method of monitoring a light-off catalyst in an internal combustion engine vehicle having a light-off catalyst and a main catalyst, including the steps of: providing an exhaust gas oxygen sensor upstream and downstream of the light-off catalyst for monitoring operation of the catalyst; characterised by disabling monitoring of the light-off catalyst when the mass air flow in the engine is such that the space velocity through the light-off catalyst is so high that catalyst monitoring is saturated and unable to detect efficiency of the light-off catalyst or a catalyst with zero efficiency; and activating monitoring of the light off catalyst when the mass air flow into the engine is such that the space velocity is sufficiently low and the catalyst monitoring is not saturated. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus as set forth in Claim 6 of the appended claims. The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of an engine, two light-off catalysts and a main exhaust gas catalyst; Fig. 2 is a graphic representation of hydrocarbon efficiency of a catalyst versus space velocity; Fig. 3 is a graphic representation of an exhaust gas oxygen switching ratio versus hydrocarbon efficiency; and Fig. 4 is a graphic representation of load versus speed for various mass air flow regions of engine operation, including capable regions of mass air flow where catalyst monitoring can be performed and not capable regions of mass air flow where catalyst monitoring can not be performed. Referring to Fig. 1, an engine 10 has a first exhaust path 11 coupled to a light-off catalyst 12 which in turn is coupled to an exhaust path 13. From another bank of engine 10 an exhaust path 14 is coupled to a light-off catalyst 15 which is coupled to an exhaust path 16. Exhaust paths 16 and 13 combine into an exhaust path 17 which is coupled to a catalyst 18 which in turn is coupled to a final exhaust path 19. An exhaust gas oxygen sensor 20 is positioned in exhaust path 11, an exhaust gas oxygen sensor 21 is positioned in exhaust path 13, an exhaust gas oxygen sensor 22 is positioned in exhaust path 14, and an exhaust gas oxygen sensor 23 is positioned in exhaust path 16. A mass air flow sensor 24 is coupled to engine 10 to detect the air mass going into engine 10. Referring to Fig. 2, the hydrocarbon efficiency is plotted against the space velocity, which is the reciprocal of how much time the exhaust gas spends in the catalyst. Thus, at a low space velocity there is a high residence time with a great deal of time spent in the catalyst. In contrast, at a high space velocity there is a low residence time so that a small amount of time is spent in the catalyst. Typical operation for a large catalyst is to the left of the point indicated as 1. Thus there are high efficiencies at a low space velocity. However, with a relatively small light-off catalyst, operation tends to take place to the right of point 1 so that there are higher space velocities and reduced hydrocarbon efficiency. This affects the capability of monitoring the catalyst. In general, the logic of the catalyst monitor is to find out what the oxygen storage capacity of the catalyst is. It is then assumed that the oxygen storage capacity of the catalyst is related to the catalyst efficiency and that this in turn indicates whether or not the catalyst is effectively processing the exhaust gases to reduce undesired emissions. The logic of this monitoring scheme is that the monitoring of the catalyst is only done when the space velocities are sufficiently low so that there is high hydrocarbon efficiency in the catalyst. In the case of a small light-off catalyst, this means monitoring cannot be done during substantial portions of the time of engine operation. Referring to Fig. 3, the exhaust gas oxygen switch ratio is plotted against the hydrocarbon efficiency and points labelled 1 and 2 are noted corresponding to points labelled 1 and 2 on Fig. 2. Typically the area around point 1 on Fig. 3 is the operation range of a large volume catalyst. The exhaust gas oxygen sensor switch ratio is the ratio of rear switching to front switching. Therefore when rear switching is very low the EGO switch ratio is very low. Thus near point 1 there is a very low switch ratio and a high hydrocarbon efficiency indicating that there is very effective catalytic action. This would be an example of a new catalyst. In contrast, at a very low hydrocarbon efficiency there is a very high EGO switch ratio which indicates that the ratio of rear to front switching is essentially the same. This is the kind of action that would be expected if there were very poor catalytic action or, in the extreme, a straight pipe connected between the front and rear EGO and no catalytic action occurred in the straight pipe. Referring to Fig. 4, the graphic representation of engine load versus engine speed is shown at various mass air flow regions. The partitioning of the graph shows regions where the catalytic monitoring is capable and not capable Regions numbered 1 on Fig. 4 correlate to the points numbered 1 on Figs. 2 and 3. Similarly, regions numbered 2 on Fig. 4 correspond to the points numbered 2 on Figs. 2 and 3. In points 1 the air flow is sufficiently low so that the catalyst does not saturate and effective catalytic monitoring can take place to determine the condition of the catalyst. In contrast, in the points numbered 2 the air flow is too high and catalytic monitoring saturates so that there can be no determination of the operating condition of the catalyst.

Claims: A method of monitoring a light-off catalyst in an internal combustion engine (10) vehicle having a light-off catalyst (12,15) and a main catalyst (18), including the steps of: providing an exhaust gas oxygen sensor (20,21,22,23) upstream and downstream of the light-off catalyst (12,15) for monitoring operation of the catalyst; characterised by disabling monitoring of the light-off catalyst (12,15) when the mass air flow in the engine (10) is such that the space velocity through the light-off catalyst is so high that catalyst monitoring is saturated and unable to detect efficiency of the light-off catalyst or a catalyst with zero efficiency; and activating monitoring of the light off catalyst (12,15) when the mass air flow into the engine is such that the space velocity is sufficiently low and the catalyst monitoring is not saturated. A method of monitoring a light-off catalyst as claimed in claim 1, wherein monitoring operation of the catalyst includes: determining the ratio of the frequency of downstream exhaust gas oxygen sensor switching to the frequency of upstream exhaust gas oxygen sensor switching when the mass air flow into the engine is such that catalyst monitoring does not saturate and there can be an indication of overall catalyst hydrocarbon efficiency. A method of monitoring a light-off catalyst as claimed in claim 2 further comprising the steps of: providing a second light-off catalyst from a second bank of the engine; providing second upstream and downstream exhaust gas oxygen sensors around the second light-off catalyst; providing a downstream union of the exhaust flow from the two light-off catalysts; and providing a main catalyst downstream of the union of the flow from the light-off catalysts for further catalytic processing. A method of monitoring a light-off catalyst as claimed in claim 3 further comprising the step of using a mass air flow sensor to detect air flow into the engine to determine when monitoring can take place. A method of monitoring a light-off catalyst as claimed in claim 3 further comprising the step of using engine speed and load to determine when monitoring can take place. Apparatus for monitoring the light-off catalyst (12,15) of an engine (10) having a light-off catalyst (12,15), a main catalyst (18) arranged downstream of the light-off catalyst (12,15), an exhaust gas oxygen sensor (20,22) arranged upstream of the light-off catalyst (12,15), and a further exhaust gas oxygen sensor (21,23) arranged downstream of the light-off catalyst (12,15) and upstream of the main catalyst (18), the apparatus comprising monitoring means analysing the output signals of the upstream and downstream exhaust gas oxygen sensors (20,21; 22,23) to monitor the operation of the light-off catalyst (12,15), means for determining the space velocity through the light-off catalyst (12,15), and means for inhibiting the monitoring of the operation of the light-off catalyst (12,15) when the space velocity exceeds a predetermined value byond which the monotoring means is unable to monitor the efficiency of the light-off catalyst (12, 15) and for enabling the monitoring of the operation of the light-off catalyst (12, 15) when the space velocity does not exceed the predetermined value. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the means for determining the space velocity through the light-off catalyst (12, 15) comprises a mass air flow sensor. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the means for determining the space velocity through the light-off catalyst (12, 15) comprises means for evaluating the space velocity through the light-off catalyst (12,15) based on measurement of engine speed and load.

Inventors: WADE WALLACE ROBERT, WADE, WALLACE ROBERT
Applicants: FORD FRANCE, FORD MOTOR CO, FORD WERKE AG, FORD FRANCE S.A., FORD MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED, FORD-WERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
Application year: 1994
Main classification: F01N7
IPC codes: F01N11